Six Hundred and One Years
by Kelyse Llewes
Summary: Tia McPherson, under that alias, has fallen in love with a mortal. And though she is only temporarily immortal with the gift she possesses, she will now face the tests of time as she has never know. Sequel to Six Hundred Years. DracoxOC. Please R&R.
1. Picking Up the Pieces

Chapter One: Picking Up the Peaces

_If there was ever a chance to make things right, then it would be exactly after things went wrong, and that's exactly what happened. There have been many instances when I have not had that chance, but this time, for the first time, I was able to right the wrong. But I still had a long way to go. I never thought it possible for myself to find happiness and love that I was always told I deserved. It had finally happened and it made me feel so exhilarated inside that I almost wanted to cry out in joy. But I kept myself calm and contained and I savored the moment to it's fullest. Now I can say that I have become a different person, someone who I lost so many years ago. I have finally become the concentrated and powerful woman that my grandfather always saw in me. But I still have the same problems that I had those many years ago. _

_Lando is still out there, and now I find that its so much worse; he has joined forces with the Dark Lord Voldemort, the only other man in this world that I find myself up against, but then so are many people, as a large scale revolt, to prevent a massive war that could clash worlds._

_I cannot believe that this year will end in peace, but I have the faith that it will be somewhere close to it. I want to believe that everything will be sorted and sides have been crossed and the evil ones destroyed, but I just can't say. It's something I dream every night, wishing desperately for this all to end, not just for my sake, but also for everyone's._

****

As she walked down the halls beside Draco she felt the secret that tore at her insides. There they were, hand in hand, and no one had a clue what was behind their simple and affectionate act. She wore it, plain as day on her fourth finger, embedded with a large oval diamond and two smaller ones on either side in the setting, a ring, but no one took notice of it. She blended in with everyone else…except when she laughed. When that happened, then she lit the entire room and brought warmth to the hearts of those around her.

And no doubt Draco felt the same way. He stood beside Tia, tall and proud, wanting to shout it to the world. But he was sworn to silence and both he and Tia understood that well. If the world knew, then they'd have nowhere to hide. And hide-and-seek was a crucial role in their twisted lives these days.

Tia loved being with Draco and even sometimes, when it was just the two of them and they were cuddled in each other's arms, then she forgot what lay outside Hogwarts, and what was in her way of loving Draco to her fullest. It was not something easily forgotten, but sometimes she managed to overlook it. Living with Draco was step one. Step two would be to actually survive this year and then marry him before something disastrous occurred, and that was not far off.

In the middle of November, Tia and Draco were sitting down at their favorite spot by a large oak tree by the lake. It was cool for an autumn day and the sun shone high in the sky, but they took no notice, wrapped in each other's arms. Any day now they were expecting snow so they enjoyed the weather while they could. She lay with her head rested on his stomach while his back was up against the tree, slightly diagonal; it was a nice relaxed position. On her knees lay an open book, one that she was hardly reading. His one hand was curled with hers and his other was playing with strands of her golden brown hair.

"Do you think exams will be hard?" Draco said absentmindedly.

"Highly doubt it," she replied, looking backwards at him. "Why?"

"Just wondering. You'll probably ace them, along with everything else you do. I don't think I'd be able to handle school for six hundred years. It would just be unnatural. How did you stand it?"

Tia smiled and shifted her position to look at him. He was just getting used to the fact that she was six hundred and seventeen and that she'd been in school for most of those years. "I never really found anything else I could do. I told you once that I couldn't pull off being a thirty-year-old, so I just stayed where I was comfortable, always changing my name and allowing a few people to know my secret. Some of my professors stayed alive and well until it was there time, and Lando never knew about them. It's cause they knew what was at stake. McGonagall does too."

"McGonagall knows about this?" Draco said, surprised that anyone in the school knew.

"Sure. She's part of the Or…" she trailed off, wondering if she should tell Draco about being in the Order of the Phoenix. It was hard enough with him knowing her real identity. But if he knew why she was really at Hogwarts then he would lose his trust in her all together. "She's a part of Dumbledore's trust. He trusted her and she respected him much more than she let on, everyone did. She knows and that's it. No one else other than you and she."

Draco frowned at her pause, but let her get it out. She was holding something back from him and he could tell. But she would tell him in time, she always did, whenever there was a dire need for him to know the truth. "Dumbledore…argh," he scoffed, shifting his back against the tree. Even after he had died, he had never gained respect for the old headmaster, especially not after what he had tried to do to Dumbledore last year.

"You never liked him did you?" Tia wondered at his scowl.

"Never. Always thought he was second after Potter and then Granger came third. They were students last year; I guess they chose not to come back for their final go round. Hated them from day one, always have."

Another thing that Draco didn't know was that Tia was a good friend with the people that he had just mentioned, but she dare not say anything. She had to keep these little secrets from him or else loose his love as well as his trust. But she knew it would ruin her eventually, but not just yet. She wanted to enjoy this while she could. She greatly wanted to tell him, but she could never find the courage.

They fell silent and Tia went back to reading her book while Draco was gazing out across the lake, again absentmindedly. It began to drop in temperature so they decided it was best to get up and go inside. As they were walking up the steps of the castle they met Blaise. He was just coming out.

"Hey guys," he said in his usual charming and arrogant voice. "Where you going?"

"Hey Blaise," Tia answered sweetly, having grown quite fond of Blaise as well. "We were headed back to the common room; somewhere you're not allowed to go."

"But I've been there before," he complained, keeping pace with the both of them as they climbed the stairs.

"Yes Zabini," Draco said, annoyed with his friend's pushy behavior, "but that's a once a month privilege, and if you don't shut your yap, then it'll become once a year, okay?"

"Geez Draco," Blaise said exasperatedly as they rounded the corner to come to yet another flight of stairs, "what's eating you today?"

"Nothing," Draco huffed in a low and menacing voice.

"Don't worry about him," Tia assured Blaise, "he'll be fine once he's had his nap and bottle."

Blaise chuckled at that comment and Draco went slightly red and turned to glare at Tia. But all he could see in her face was pure happiness and delight at her little joke.

"I guess I'd better go and let the poor baby be then eh?" Blaise said as they came to the corridor where the Head's suites were. "Mind if I drop by later?"

"Ah, yeah, we do," Tia, joked again. "You see the baby needs his sleep, but then so does the babysitter, so you'd best not come until, well, next week maybe."

"Oh, I get it. Shove the brother off unappreciatively. I take the hint. I'll be on my way." He spun around in the opposite direction and stalked off.

When he was at the end of the hall Tia called out sweetly, "Bye Blaise, thanks for saying hi." He just raised his hand and acknowledged the catcall. Her laugh resonated in the nearly empty corridor and Draco smiled with laughter as well. His heart fluttered when he saw her smile.

"You really like teasing him huh?" he asked before saying the password to their suite.

"Sure do. Its amusing, don't you think?" she replied, plopping herself on the couch, placing her book on the coffee table.

"I definitely think it's amusing," he said from the kitchen, which was where he'd wondered off to, trying to find something edible. "More fun than…well no, that would be a lie if I said that." He stopped what he was about to say because it was not true.

"More fun than what?" Tia urged, wanting to know what he was about to say. He popped his head out from behind the wall into the kitchen and smiled foolishly. Tia's mouth opened when she finally understood what he'd meant. "You're bad," she yelled at him, wanting to throw the cushion at him, but knowing she'd miss.

"Thank you," he replied proudly, coming out of the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. "So when do I get my nap?" he asked smugly, sitting down on the couch beside her and handing her a mug.

"If you really wanted a nap hun, then you wouldn't have made these hot chocolate's for us."

"Don't underestimate me, love," he said, putting his mug down on the coffee table. "I don't want to nap, I want you."

He pulled himself over her smoothly but she held him back with her cup. "Leave it to Beaver to spill my hot drink all over my lap, right?"

He swiftly grabbed the cup from her hand and put it on the floor beside them. "It won't be hot when I get finished," he grinned.

She smiled and snuck her way effortlessly underneath his warm body, like a snake would go in and out of a tight hole, and crouched on the floor beside him. "Who say's your in charge?"

He pounced at her and she screeched, leaping back and running towards the stairs. "Come back here missy," he called to her before he finally caught up with her wriggling body in the hallway above. She laughed jovially as he bent over and kissed her gently on the mouth. But after that it was not fun and games. She took great pleasure in the kiss they shared which took things to the passionate level.

She took his hand and led him into the bedroom, whose doesn't matter. She made him sit down gently on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt. His hands were at her hips and they eased their way around the curves and then came to snap of her jeans. He looked at her and the gleam in her eyes told him to do as he pleased, so off came the jeans. She seductively brought his shirt off his shoulders and then his arms. In haste to get in contact with her tempting body, he undid his jeans and she undid the fastenings of her shirt. She let it hang open while he pulled his own jeans to the floor and finally off from around his feet.

"Come to me," he whispered, holding his arms out to her, wanting her to make contact with his skin.

She followed through and not only went to him, but she threw her legs on either side of him and straddled his waiting and open body. His butterfly kisses that trailed down her neck to her bra line were soft and flickered tiny sparks all over her body. "You are beautiful," he said, holding back and looking down at her body that was molding itself to him. "And I get to have this for the rest of my life."

"Oh, Draco. You get to have it for much longer than that, much longer."


	2. Never a Time To Rest

Chapter Two: Never a Time to Rest

He woke alone, something he wasn't accustomed to since meeting Tia. She was always there, warm and loving beside him when he woke up. But she wasn't there. He slid over the edge of the bed and stretched his arms high over his head. The sun was streaming in a thin beam from the window where the curtains were pulled across. He heaved himself to stand and walked out the door of the bedroom.

As Draco ambled his way down the hall he made his way to her bedroom but found it also empty. He went down the stairs then and saw her standing by the large window, starring out over the grounds. She wore a long silky robe the color of forget-me-nots. Her hair was let out and flowing down her back. She looked deeply troubled, or saddened by something. Draco approached with care because he did not want to upset her.

"You okay Tia?" he asked, pulling her body to his as he came up behind her. She allowed him to cuddle her, but she said nothing. She still wouldn't look away from the window.

Draco waited, not in a hurry to pry at her thoughts. He knew she was troubled, but he had no right to tell her to confess when she didn't feel right. So they stood in each other's arms, just enjoying the soft comfort of each other's warmth.

She shifted and Draco released her from the relaxed grip. She turned to face him at last and placed her open palms on his bare chest, calming her fingers on his extraordinary muscles. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if I had never come here?" she asked, looking up into his steel-grey eyes.

"I suppose it would've not been as wonderful, as confusing, or as worthwhile had you not been here. I would have been desperately lonely," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Honestly, I can't imagine what it would've been like, without you."

"Neither can I. I know I should be able to, but I just can't see it. Without you here then I might not have survived this year."

"You'd have survived," Draco, said back, not releasing her from his embrace, "I know you would've. You could've survived anything, even if I had not been here."

Tia stayed quiet, not sure of what to say. He had confidence in her, that much was clear, but why was beyond her. She had not given him truths that she knew would come between them. She had stayed silent though the worst of times between the two of them and she knew it would ultimately ruin their relationship.

With no more to say and nothing else to do, Tia looked up into Draco's blue-grey eyes and smiled. He leaned his head forward to her lips and took them gently. It was not possessive, but kind and warm, a kiss that is shared between two people in reassurance.

A knock at the door made the two separate. Tia moved into the kitchen and laughed at Draco with her eyes, telling him he was to get the door.

He moved to the door and pulled it open. There stood Professor McGonagall, complete in her grim looks and tightened lips. "Mr. Malfoy, please put a shirt on and report to the headmaster's office immediately. He has an urgent wish to see you."

Draco frowned at the professor's tone, but obeyed just the same. He had not been asked to go see Professor Snape since getting to Hogwarts and so this was a surprise. He must have news from the Dark Lord.

"Thank you professor," Draco said, before turning to walk up the stairs. He retrieved a shirt and buttoned it up as he went down the stairs. He winked to Tia in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee. She winked back and he continued out the door towards the Snape's new 'Headmaster' office, which he had inherited from Dumbledore.

****

Back in the common room, McGonagall still stood there with Tia. She placed her hands on her hips and raised one eyebrow. "What is this I hear about you and the Malfoy boy being engaged?"

Tia spurted and nearly choked on her coffee. She had kept the secret well and she knew only too well that Draco would never tell anyone. "What?"

"You heard me Tia," Minerva said strictly. "Tell me the truth."

Tia sighed and placed her cup down on the table. She'd hoped to keep many secrets much longer, but they never seemed to stay hidden too well. "How did you find out?"

"I heard it from Charlie Weasley. He said that he'd heard it on the grapevine at the Ministry that Lucius Malfoy's son was engaged to a woman of ancient descent. How it got there I shall never guess, but I wanted to come here to hear myself contradicted or proven right." Minerva looked very stern at Tia and Tia merely sighed again.

"I have accepted, yes. But no one else but us knows this. The only other person who would be capable of letting that information would be Lando Falconi. He mentioned that he was answering to Lord Voldemort our last encounter. It must have gotten around somehow."

She didn't look concerned or frustrated, or angry at any point. Tia just said things as calmly as it were in a normal conversation. It didn't worry her at any rate. There was nothing she could've done to prevent Lando from discovering it if she had no idea who his sources were, so why bother.

"That's it?" Minerva yelled at Tia. "Your not going to lift a finger when so many other lives are at risk, not just your own. You have to tell Harry."

Tia's head snapped. "Why should I tell Harry? He's too busy to keep contact, why should I? He's got nothing to do with this."

"I beg your pardon. He has everything to do with this. Your help might have led him into deeper trouble. He has every right to know what your up to, all in the Order have. You're in Hogwarts to protect the reason why Voldemort has not won already!"

Tia bowed her head and sighed heavily. She knew Minerva was right and it was just unfair. She had not wanted things to get this out of hand. Her happiness had not lasted, like she knew it wouldn't. But still, there was still that minimal cling to hope that Tia had always possessed. Where there's a will, there's a way.

"Where is he?" Tia asked, looking up into the old wise woman's face.

"He's at Grimmauld Place with Ron and Hermione. They went there after the wedding and have been there ever since. I can get you there by floo powder from my office if you promise to be back for tomorrow night."

"What're you going to tell Draco? He'll suspect something's up."

"Draco, at this moment, is being given instructions to infiltrate you, something he clearly has already done. The Dark Lord has made it Draco's task to break you and find out why you're here. We also heard that on the grapevine. You let me worry about Draco Malfoy; you worry about yourself and what your task is. You're our only hope."

"Wow, if I'm your only hope then the great Harry Potter must be beaten at his own game," Tia chuckled, though completely joking. Upon seeing the dark glare in Minerva's eyes she stopped chuckling and said, "I'm sorry Minerva. But, Harry Potter is the hope that everyone must rest on, not me. I am nobody except a bystander in the mess of things. And it's all because my ex-boyfriend has made a muck of things. I'll go tell Harry."

Minerva nodded abruptly and Tia took it as a sign she should go get some clothes on and prepare for the journey. "I will meet you at my office in fifteen minutes," Minerva said, switching back to her professor tone.

Tia acknowledged that and left to her room to get dressed. What the hell would she tell Harry when she turned up at Grimmauld Place?

****

Walking towards Snape's office, Draco felt this lump in his throat grow. His last order from the dark lord was when he'd gotten to Hogwarts, which had not been pleasant. Snape spent half the time yelling at him and spewing some crap about how Draco was only to answer to him alone and that he would be expected to keep on track of his job that year or fear the consequences. Now this, this summoning to his office, had scared Draco back behind his cold stonewall, something he put up every time he was around Death Eaters. It was his only defense from their cruel glares.

He stopped in front of the gargoyle in front of the office door and murmured the password before watching it leap aside. He ascended the spiral staircase and knocked on the door.

"Enter," could be heard from within so Draco turned the knob of the door and disappeared behind it.

"Draco," said a cruel and menacing voice from behind the desk in front of him. There sat the former potions master, Severus Snape, newly appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts. His greasy black hair hung limp to his shoulders while his pointed nose stuck into the air like some pompous rat on a throne. "Come in and sit down Draco."

Draco did so and sat down at the little wooden chair that was placed in front of the massive desk. There was a silence for a few minutes, Snape peering at Draco through his dark pools of eyes.

"Do you know why you are here?" Snape said.

"No sir," Draco replied, just as cold and unfeeling as Snape.

"Well then I shall inform you. It is the Dark Lord's wish that you keep a close eye on Tia McPherson, your convenient roommate. She is here on business for the Order of the Phoenix and it was her job to watch over you, so now you shall be watching each other. Find out why she is here, and ask questions about her nature. It is clear you know more than you should anyways so it should prove to be useful when you present your case before the Dark Lord at Christmas. Can you do that Draco?"

Snape's eyes mocked Draco but he kept his composure nonetheless. Snape's challenging eyebrows made Draco flinch slightly, but he covered it nicely by rising to his feet. "I am capable of anything the Dark Lord assigns of me."

At that Snape laughed a loud and cold laugh. For he remembered only too well the events of last year and how Draco could not even execute his previous order. "Believe me Draco, you cannot handle everything, but the Dark Lord has put confidence in you, for some strange reason, and this is your assignment. You may leave now."

"Thank you professor," he said clearly before turning and exiting the round office. As he walked down the spiral staircase he shook his head in dismay. He had just begun to get used to the idea of his new life with Tia, and now he had to dash all those dreams with a simple order from his master. Not his master, no, his father's master. For Draco did not wear the brand of a Death Eater, so he was a pawn, being moved as an expendable piece on a chessboard, and he was fed up with it.

****

She had gotten dressed and thought through her words carefully. She had absolutely no desire to tell Harry she was engaged to his second worst enemy, and on top of that it would make everything seem all the more weird if she just showed up unexpectedly.

As she made her way down the corridors towards Minerva's office, Tia thought of the many excuses she could to tell Harry instead of the truth. It would just add to her pile of lies though, so that was out of the question. And what would Draco do when he found out she had visited Harry? He had expressed serious dislike between the two of them and she doubted that seeing Harry without Draco knowing would make things better.

She came to the door of Minerva's office and knocked. Minerva came to the door suddenly and thrust it open, "Get in quick."

Tia did so and spun to see Minerva slam the door and then wave her wand over it several times. "What was that all about?" Tia asked, worried that someone might know of her going to Grimmauld Place.

"Nothing, nothing," Minerva said, distracted by several other things. She had made the room look very dark; the drapes were closed and the candles burned low. The fire was not even alight so it was hard to see. "Just safety precautions. I've been able to elude any detection from here on in, so you had better be back when I have the Floo Network open, okay?"

Tia sighed and nodded her head. This was going to be one of those timed things. She'd get there, tell Harry the truth, if she could manage and then be back before her carriage turned back into a pumpkin, though this was going to be far from a walk in the park.

She walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and yelled into the fire, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place," clearly before dropping the powder. Bright green flames sprung up all around her and suddenly she was whisked away into a world she did not recognize. She had gone by the Floo Network many times before, but she had always disliked the sensation that wriggled its way all through her body.

Her feet hit the solid ground and she stumbled out of the sooty fireplace and onto the floor in a room she took as the kitchen. No one was there so she guessed Minerva had not let Harry know she was coming. This would prove to be such a surprise indeed because she would not be able to look Harry in the eye once again. The pain in his past was just too strong, so it might be hard for him to believe her in any way.

Voices could be heard coming down the stairs so Tia walked over to the door of the kitchen and spied a jet-black haired boy and a brown-haired girl coming down the stairs.

"Harry, don't you see. That's the only way it can go. Any other attempt to get in would be penetrated instantly, especially with that foolish 'minister' in charge of everything they've done to prevent being infiltrated."

"Fine Hermione, I'll agree. I just think it's damned unethical. But if you can devise a plan that works, then I will be all for it." His voice drifted smooth and decided down the stairs to where Tia stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Hermione had nodded and made her way down the last few steps before turning back to Harry. But I wasn't to Harry that she spoke next.

"Ronald, come on. Breakfast will be ready and then we have to go."

From somewhere up the stairs Tia could hear, "I'll be down in a second."

Tia smiled as she remembered the fiery redhead and his Dalmatian aura, quite an extraordinary find.

Tia walked out from behind the wall to come fully into view of the teenagers. Harry halted in his tracks and had his wand out of his pocket before Tia could say anything. Hermione nearly screamed.

"Guys, whoa, it's just me," Tia said firmly, making sure that nothing came out of the end of Harry's wand, or Hermione's mouth to cause alarm.

"Tia!" Hermione gasped, holding her hand over her heart, where Tia had no doubt it was beating at a very fast tempo. "You nearly scared me to death. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came on McGonagall's orders. She wanted me to tell you something, but I'm sure that Ron will want to be present so he doesn't feel left out."

Hermione nodded and then, once again from the foot of the stairs, yelled at Ron. "Ron, get your ass down here. Tia's come to tell us something."

"Tia? What, why?"

"Just get down here," Harry yelled over his shoulder up at the stairs. He was also quite surprised to see Tia standing there before him, but she was a special person so she had the ability to pop up out of nowhere.

"What is it Tia?" Hermione asked, worried and frazzled.

"Oh, don't worry Hermione. No one died and nothing is wrong. I was just told to let you guys know something."

"What?" Harry asked, impatient as ever.

Tia still had not looked at Harry and he understood why. The last time she had looked into his green eyes had been something of a disaster. She had found what she was looking for, but it caused her pain when she saw his own pain. "Just a second Harry," Tia said, looking at everything but his eyes.

Ron came ambling down the stairs and Tia looked up to see his stunned face. He had not expected her to be standing there. He'd heard the name Tia, but it had not registered that she was actually at Grimmauld Place. "What's going on?"

"We don't know Ronald," Hermione grumbled, folding her arms across her chest, not bothering to look at him, "we were waiting for your slow ass to get down here so she could tell us."

Ron made an imitating face in Hermione's direction, which she failed to see, but Tia didn't. She raised an eyebrow at him and fortunately he saw and shrunk away.

"Tell us Tia," Harry urged, settling himself against the wall.

"Well…Minerva…Professor McGonagall, wanted me to tell you something. I had rather thought you would already know, but I guess not. Ron, have you talking to your brother at all lately?"

"Which one? I've got five."

"Charlie."

"No, why? Does this have something to do with him?"

"No, not at all. But that might explain why you don't know anything about this. I…well…I am kind of engaged."

All three of them looked at her for a second as if she were deranged. They did not know what to think. That did not have anything to do with Charlie Weasley, and why should McGonagall require them to know?

"Um…congratulations, I guess," Hermione said, finally finding her voice. "To who? Someone at Hogwarts?"

"Ah, yeah," Tia replied, wringing her hands, trying to gain the courage to tell them. "His name is, you know him, um, Draco Malfoy."

Shock filled their eyes and their mouths hung open in awe. "What?!" Ron yelled before any of the others could speak. "What the fuck did he do to you to make you marry him?"

"Nothing. I did it on my own. You can't blame him for that kind of stuff. He's really a nice guy."

"Yeah," Harry agreed sarcastically. "He's nice compared to a man-eating mountain lion. He is the furthest thing from safe. And on top of that, you're—"

"I'm what Harry? What am I?"

"You're six hundred years old. We know the entire thing. The story was floating around the Ministry yesterday, oh and a rumor about Draco being engaged to someone. And that just proved that you're six hundred years old. How can that be true? You don't look that old."

"Yeah, well from your looks, you don't seem to be all that smart. Come on Harry, I'm brilliant and smart and I found out where the diadem was, so don't be messing with my character figure." Tia heaved a large breath and finally looked into Harry's eyes. She could feel the pain lashing out at her, trying to wield her to him, but her own anger and strong feelings of pain countered it.

There was a moment of silence and things stood still for a moment. No one moved, Tia barely breathed, but that was all it took. She had found peace, once and for all in Harry's eyes. The two negative forces made a positive and their souls latched onto each other for a brief moment. They just stood and gazed into each other's eyes, finding the most blissful peace of mind neither could've imagined. It took them far and beyond their bodies. But in this moment of tranquility, their anger ceased and once more Tia was flooded with the pain and suffering that Harry had felt.

She turned away and screamed as the pain hit her body, a thousand knives stabbing all over her, a pain that no one would want to go through.

All thoughts were forgotten as Hermione and Ron rushed forward and clung to Tia's back as she rocked back and forth on her knees on the floor.

"The pain," she mumbled incoherently. "It hurts so bad."

"Tia, Tia," Ron called, rubbing her back reassuringly, "calm down, nothing's gonna hurt you."

Through all this pain Tia heard his voice and looked up at the Dalmatian. Ron's aura pulsed good thoughts and made every bad thing disappear. "Oh Ron," Tia cried and then she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, like she had always done to Roger, her now dead father figure. She had been alive too long that she couldn't remember her real father, just her grandfather and every posing father she had ever had. Her mother had died as childbirth and so she grew up with her grandfather and father most of her young life. Her grandfather had had a Dalmatian aura and seeing Ron comforting her like he had just brought back so many memories.

"Shhhh," Tia heard Ron say, "everything's gonna be okay."

Tia looked up over Ron's shoulder and saw Harry. He was lying on the floor, perspiration all over his face and soaking his clothes. "Harry!" Tia yelled before Hermione and Ron noticed that their friend was unconscious.


	3. The Golden Cipher

Chapter Three: The Golden Cipher

When Harry's eyes fluttered open, Tia felt the breath seeping back into her lungs slowly. Yes, she had been crying, and in pain moments before, but seeing Harry lying there made her forget the pain. His eyes opened and he heaved himself into a sitting position before she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him in thanks.

"Thank the Gods you're okay Harry," she said pulling back from him.

Ron and Hermione were kneeling right there beside the two, watching in wonder at what might have just took place.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione said, helping Harry get it his feet.

At first Harry said nothing, just allowing himself to come back to reality and think over the sensation he had just felt. It was like nothing he had ever experienced. There was a moment of pure bliss and then there was a connection that threw him off and knocked him unconscious. He had no idea what it was, only that it felt like he was floating high above the earth, just waiting for himself to fall. And then he fell.

"I don't know, it felt remarkable, but I don't know what happened," he answered, turning back to his two friends.

Ron and Hermione looked at Tia then and questioned her with their eyes. But Tia had no answers either. She had never experienced something that wonderful, or horrible, just like with Harry. It was completely new. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I have never felt like that before."

Ron and Hermione were both stunned and amazed. They turned their attention back to Harry and saw that he was only looking at Tia. Tia felt the scrutiny of their eyes and turned her back on them to sit down on a chair. She knew things were going to be very different from now on, but she also knew that she had to figure out what had just happened. She searched back through all her teaching and learning's with all her professors and tutors until she came to a memory of one of her teachers…about a hundred years ago…

****

_The class had assembled and she sat at the back of the class, waiting for the teacher to come in. Professor Gibbons was one of the most intellectual professors at the Academy and Crimson was glad to be learning from such an extraordinary witch._

_The teacher came in from her side office and bowed to the class. Most of the class was of a higher society, people who had money or children of parents who had money. Crimson was just there because she had lived there her entire life and never wanted to go far from it. The teachers accepted that and left her there to take the classes she adored and loved. _

_Professor Gibbons was a tall and slender lady in her mid-thirties with a motherly smile and bright blue eyes. Many of the boy students had a crush on her and they went magenta when she came near. Her hair was long and the color of chestnuts. And to Crimson, the class that Gibbons taught was her favorite amongst them all. Professor Gibbons taught Telekinesis. Telekinesis was Crimson's best subject and Professor Gibbons had taken a special interest in Crimson because she had such a powerful connection._

_When Professor Gibbons walked in that day, she looked just as wonderful and important as she did every other day. Yet she bore a secret. And Crimson could tell just by the aura that Gibbons was transmitting. But just as quickly as she sensed it, it disappeared, blocked off. _

"_Good Morning Class," Gibbons said cheerfully, hiding her secret._

"_Good Morning Professor Gibbons," the class replied, just as jovial to see her as she to see them._

"_Today we will continue the lesson from yesterday so if you will all find your partners, we will begin."_

_Crimson looked around for her partner. But as she continued to look she could not find her. Jessica had always been her partner for this kind of thing, but she wasn't there today._

"_Um, professor? Jessica isn't here. Who is going to be my partner?"_

"_Ah yes, I am so sorry about this, but you will not be able to participate in the class today Laura. Jessica falls ill and you have no partner, so I'm afraid you will just have to sit out this class. Just find a place to sit and keep out of people's way please."_

_She fell against the desk and stared after her teacher. Never had any teacher ever excluded a student from a class, and because Crimson, aka Laura, had been in the Academy a long time, teachers usually let her help out with the others. But not today…today she would be left out and it made her feel that there was something even more upsetting to Professor Gibbons, and it was definitely more than the class subject._

_So Crimson sat there the entire class, watching her favorite teacher and friend instruct her lessons. Crimson was the best at Telekinesis but the professor was certainly more advanced for her age. Not many witches could have mastered that tricky subject in one lifetime, and yet Professor Gibbons had in less than half of her lifetime, leaving Crimson out, whereas Crimson had been alive for nearly five hundred years and used Telekinesis practically everyday. _

_But it didn't matter because Crimson had never told anyone that and she never would, but she had to get to the bottom of what was disturbing the professor so. After the class was finished the professor went straight to her office once more and instead of following the throng of students to her next class, Crimson stayed behind and followed the professor._

_She carefully knocked on the door then turned the doorknob. It opened and swung in to reveal the Gibbons sitting behind her desk, head in her hands, almost on the verge of tears._

"_Professor?" Crimson said softly. "Professor is everything all right?"_

_Gibbons looked up, eyes wet with tears and for a brief moment, Crimson was willed inside her teacher's thoughts. She saw a young wizard and witch laughing together in a park setting. But just as she had seen it so quickly, it left the same way._

_Gibbons sat up straighter and sniffled her tears away. "What is it Laura?" she said, once again putting on her professional tone._

"_Professor…" Crimson hesitated as she sat down on the chair in front of her, "who were those people? The young boy and girl I saw…in your memory?"_

_Gibbons' face went from professional to stony really fast and for a second Crimson thought that she was going to hit her. But it never came. Instead Gibbons got up and walked to the window, thus hiding her face and emotions from her telling…or that was her aim anyways._

_But that's not what happened. Crimson stared at the back of her professor's head and looked for something. She didn't know what, but Telekinesis was a very tricky subject and one never knew what they were looking for until they found it. Sometimes that took a long time, while other times it took less than a minute. For Crimson it took mere seconds to find the memory that she needed to see. _

_It was once again an image of a boy and a girl laughing. Both were young and vigorous, full of life. Then the image faded into another, this one of the girl holding the limp body of the boy. It looked like he was just sleeping, but then the way the girl was crying made Crimson realize that the boy was in fact, dead! _

_Once more the image faded and there stood her professor, walking into the Academy with her head held high, looking forward to the year ahead, trusting herself that this year would be a better year. _

_Crimson retracted her focus on her tutor's thoughts and refocused on the person. She stood stock still, still facing out the window at nothing really, just the mist and rain that was beating down on the windowpanes. _

"_You have a unique gift Laura," Gibbons said softly, turning to look back at Crimson. "You are unlike anyone I have ever known. And I am sure by now you know what is wrong with me."_

_Crimson nodded and gulped down her nervousness of the situation. She really had nothing to be nervous about, but she knew a little of what was to come. "I know Professor."_

"_Then you must also know something else to complete your course of training. There is a power formed by those who can use Telekinesis. This power is called the Golden Cipher. It is something that is rare and comes about only once in about a thousand years. Because I allowed you to see into my thoughts and memories, I know that you are capable of the Golden Cipher. Its something that is full of pain and also full of peace."_

_Crimson soaked in every word that Professor Gibbons let out. She was a sponge wanting to know everything she could about the subject. "When does it occur?"_

_Professor Gibbons smiled and replied, "It occurs when you meet a person that has a past so twisted and full of anger, pain and grief. In a brief moment you will have utter peace. You should never look directly into the eyes of someone like that. For it is full of pain and it hurts like nothing ever experienced."_

"_Is there a name for the marked person to which the Cipher can be attained?" Crimson said, forgetting her front and becoming the Crimson she really was, instead of remaining the Laura that she was pretending to be. _

"_They are called the Marked Cipher. Someone who has mastered the art of Telekinesis only ever finds one such Marked in their lifetime." Just then the Professor turned once more and Crimson felt compelled to ask her further about the images she had seen previous to their conversation._

"_Professor? The boy and girl, was that you and your lover?"_

"_Yes."_

"_What happened to the boy?" Crimson's question was soft and uttered barely over a whisper. She didn't want to upset her teacher anymore._

"_He died. He was my Marked Cipher and instead of unlocking my connection with him, he was forced to give up what he had left inside him. Meaning he gave up his very breath and beating heart because the Cipher could not be completed." The way she said this was as if it were in a lesson and Crimson felt herself frowning at Gibbons' back. _

"_How is a Cipher completed?" she asked, wanting to know the final piece of the puzzle that Professor Gibbons was putting together. _

"_The Golden Cipher is only completed if the Cipher can be solved. There is an ingredient, human flesh or a blood sacrifice. But most times it is the gift of Magic."_

"_Magic?" _

"_Yes, the offering of ones entire Magical Supply must be given or else one or both will die."_

_Crimson was silent for a time, thinking on those words. If she was capable of the Golden Cipher then she had not yet found her Marked Cipher. She had never met anyone that she could not look directly at. Everyone that she met, she could stare at them and see into their thoughts and memories. Some had pain, but the pain never touched Crimson. She had not yet met her Marked, if she was even one of the few that could form the Golden Cipher. _

"_Your thoughts betray you Laura," Professor Gibbons said, turning from the window. "In your case my girl, your gift or offering would be the immortality you possess. Unless you chose to give everything, then The Heart of Hearts would suffice to complete the Cipher."_

_Crimson was shocked. She had never before confessed that to anyone before. And she had especially taken care to prevent Gibbons from seeing that with her own skill of Telekinesis. But she guessed now, that she had not protected it well enough because Gibbons had discovered her secret. At a loss for words she just gawked at her teacher, wonderstruck at the blunt words that her Professor had just uttered. _

"_It might have been invasion of the mind Laura, but I still found it hidden inside your thoughts. There are only a handful of people left on this earth that have that kind of power, to conceal their thoughts like you. You were weakened by thought and therefore your barrier weakened. But there is a way to train yourself to keep it safer."_

"_How?"_

"_That is another lesson, at another time." Professor Gibbons walked over to Crimson and smiled her lovely, motherly smile. "I sense another question about the Cipher in your head."_

_Crimson bit her lower lip in worry. If she were to ask this question then she might know all she needed to complete the Golden Cipher when the time came. But she needed to know. It was eating at her inside, making her even more anxious to ask. "What is the wielder of the Cipher called, the one who can form the power of the Golden Cipher?"_

_The female teacher smiled and nodded, for she had known that this was the question forming inside her student's mind. "The wielder of the Golden Cipher is called the Shifter."_

"_The Shifter?" Crimson repeated, confused at the term._

"_Yes, for they Shift their energy source, their life force to their Marked. It's dangerous, but sometimes that's the only purpose of the Shifter." Crimson nodded in understanding. "Go on now," Gibbons said, showing Crimson over to her office door, "you are late for your lunch. I will see you tomorrow in class."_

"_Thank you Professor," Crimson replied, going down the stairs that lead from Gibbons' office. _

"_Your welcome Laura."_

_Crimson walked away from her teacher that day and held that information close to her heart for a time before giving up on the thought of one day finding her Marked Cipher._

****

Tia's head turned to the others as she recalled her memory. It was something fantastical and she knew it was of great importance to them all.

"I remember," she said simply, getting up and walking towards them. "I know what happened."


	4. Draco's Dilemma

Chapter Four: Draco's Dilemma

As he returned to the Head's Common Room there was an air if stillness about the atmosphere. Somehow he sensed that Tia was not there. She must have gone when McGonagall had come to tell him Snape wanted to talk to him. His curiosity now got the best of him and for the first time since entering into this engagement with Tia, he climbed the stairs to the dormitories and entered Tia's room.

It was a spacious room, one that he had been in several times before of course, but never on the impulse he had in mind now. He moved over to Tia's dresser and looked at the clutter that sat on it. There were makeup cases and tubes of lipstick scattered in an inelegant fashion and several hair elastics, either broken or hanging on by a single thread. There were chains and earrings of the many jewelry pieces that she wore, and three hairbrushes. It then, suddenly occurred to Draco that he had no idea what he was looking for. There was no certain course of action with his sudden urge on entering her room, but there was some reason behind it.

Tia was not there, and he felt somehow that she would not return for some time. Under any other circumstances, that would have worried him, but at the moment, under the current instructions that he had just received, he felt no guilt in searching his fiancées room for anything that might lead him on some sort of trail.

He muddled around her dresser, opening and closing her many drawers, wondering still what he might be looking for. When he did not find anything constructive, he moved on to her closet. Rummaging through her clothes was not something that he would have called a death eater act because death eater's didn't really find out all they could about their victims, just peruse the details somewhat and then move into a violent extravagance that would either end with the victim dead or under the imperious curse. Neither of those thoughts sounded appealing to Draco so he left his poking around spree and exited the room entirely, convinced that he wasn't going to find anything hidden in there.

He walked back down the stairs towards the sitting area of the Common Room and heard a sudden thumping noise coming from the portrait hole. Scowling as he descended the remaining stairs, he made his way to the door and its impatient attendant.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he yelled as he neared the door, angry at the infinite pounding that met his ears.

He flung open the door and met something he had not quite expected. There, standing before him, was a young girl with flowing brown hair, luring emerald green eyes, and several freckles that dotted her tiny nose.

"Who the hell are you?" he grumbled, annoyed at this girls' impatience.

"_Who_ the hell are _you_?" she replied in a surprised tone.

"I happen to live in this dorm, and you are intruding on my free time."

"Ah, well if it's free time then you must not be doing anything special. I'm looking for Tia."

"Aren't we all?" Draco muttered, clearly agitated by this girl. "Now answer my question, who are you?" Draco refused to tell this nosy girl anything about Tia, knowing his fiancée's rather troublesome past, he knew better than to give out information regarding her whereabouts, even if did know them.

The young girl sighed and crossed her arms, evidently irritated by Draco's blunt behavior. "Look Malfoy, tell me where Tia McPherson is or else you're going to seriously regret keeping her from me."

Draco's eyes raised as she said his name and then they retracted, doubting very highly that the little girl could do anything to make divulge Tia's whereabouts, especially seen as how he really didn't know where she was. "How did you know my name?"

"I'm psychic!" she sarcastically threw at him before shoving past his tall, masculine body to storm into the Common Room. "Tia! TIA!"

"Ugh, stop yelling. She's not here!"

"Then where is she?"

"Who the fuck are you to be demanding such things?"

"Who the fuck are you to be denying me the right to see Tia?" she flung back at him.

"Oh…my…God! You are so infuriating." He had had just about enough of her foolish reluctance and stubborn behavior.

"And you are much more pathetic than I could have imagined."

"Yeah well—wait, how do you know anything about me?" He was just about to the edge of his reasoning point but something told him that he needed to hold on just a bit more for his own sake at least. This girl knew who he was. How?

"How do I know anything about you? Well…hmmm…lets see…it might be due to the fact that I happen to be Tia's sister, Victoria McPherson."

****

"Wow," he repeated for the fifteenth time after Tia had explained herself.

"You said that," she replied, also for the fifteenth time.

"But how does that work? I mean…whoa, I am so confused?" Ron was flabbergasted. Harry could hardly believe his ears, which was why he kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Hermione was silent, deep inside her own thoughts.

When finally she chose to say something it was as if she had been in deep thought during Tia's entire explanation. "So what happened exactly?"

Tia scowled at Hermione's question and put her head in her hands, not really wanting to explain it all over again.

"No I mean, I know what happened as the basic occurrence of the Cipher, but what about the entire transfer of power and the passing of ones Magic to the Marked Cipher? Did that happen in this instance?"

Tia looked up and glanced at Harry who now sat with his back up against the wall. She looked over him once and then twice, trying to see if there was any change. In truth it could be either Harry Potter that was her Marked, or it could be another: Neville Longbottom. For both boys had given her the same startling jolt of pain and both had the same horrifying past that Professor Gibbons had described to her.

Just as Tia made her way back up Harry's body, Harry looked at Tia and for a moment Tia thought she saw something. It was a something that could be the transfer of power, or in part at least. There was no defining traits or feelings that Tia could see, but then she knew that part of her Magic had been passed on to Harry because instead of receiving pain when their eyes locked, Tia met an equal force, a power that she thought herself alone possessed.

"I don't think I gave Harry all the powers I was supposed to. But I gave him some. There is no proof or evidence of the Magical Transfer, but there wouldn't be anyway." Hermione nodded in understanding.

Ron spoke up again, this time with a more personal question. "Tia? When the connection had been broken and you were rocking back and forth on the ground, why did you turn to me?"

Tia smiled at Ron with care and understanding, "Because the aura you possess is a Familiar."

"A Familiar?" Hermione gasped, her head snapping up at the word.

"What's a Familiar?" Harry asked, joining the conversation at last.

Tia was about to answer, but then Hermione cut in. "A Familiar is an outer magnetic force that few people have the same of. It is a rare happening when a Familiar is located. Tia, who has the ability to see auras, must have known someone else who had the same aura as Ron. Right?" She turned to Tia to make sure that her information is correct. Tia nodded.

"Who did you know that has the same aura as Ron?" Harry asked.

"My grandfather. His aura was called a Dalmatian aura. It had the perfect balance of both good and bad. Ron has the same aura. Dalmatians are uncommon in themselves, let alone the ability for them to be a Familiar. I have lived over six hundred years and have never met another Dalmatian Familiar. There are others I have met that were Familiars, but not Dalmatians. That is a rarity in itself."

There was silence after that. Silence fell and hung around the teenagers like a plague. None of them knew what to say, and if they did then they feared to say it. Tia's mind was racing. Never in her life had she encountered anything so climactic than what had happened there today. She had thought that Lando was going to be the epitome of what she would have to deal with, but then she knew that her life was never going to be easy. This would definitely add to her list of worries and problems.

Finally she broke the silence with her words saying, "I should probably get back or else McGonagall will have a fit." Tia got up and smiled at the three and turned towards the kitchen from whence she came.

Hermione jumped up and followed Tia into the kitchen, in her wake was Harry and Ron. Tia stepped into the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder. Before she dropped it Harry said, "Tia, come back sometime. We might need you."

If he said something more then Tia did not hear it for she had already dropped the powder at her feet and was once more whirling and twirling through the unpleasant world that was the Floo Network.

She landed in McGonagall's office much more graceful than she had landed at Grimmauld Place. Minerva was sitting behind her desk, quill to paper, grading essays from her third year transfiguration class. She jumped to her feet in surprise when she saw Tia.

"Well? How did it go?" she managed to spill out.

"As well as I expected. They didn't like the idea, but then it was soon forgotten." Tia felt no desire to tell her professor anything more about her visit with Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Now if you don't mind Minerva, I would much like to get back to my common room and perhaps take a small nap before dinner this evening."

Minerva nodded brusquely and waved her wand noiselessly at the door, retracting all the previously cast spells and enchantments. "Be wary Tia, Malfoy is to know nothing about this."

"I wouldn't dream of telling my fiancé any more than he needs to know."

Her answer unsettled Minerva, but she was sure that Tia had her reasons and she had no choice but to trust the teenager because, whether she liked it or not, Albus Dumbledore had trusted Tia and so Minerva was honor bound to do the same.

"Good day Tia," McGonagall said as Tia walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

****

"So what you're telling me is that you have never heard of me, ever?"

"That's what I'm telling you."

Draco and Victoria had been sitting and talking for the past half hour, not exactly knowing what to talk about. There weren't really any topics that they lingered on, just that Draco was still trying to get it through his head whom this girl was. She was bright and intelligent, much like Tia, he had concluded, but there still remained the fact that Tia had never mentioned her. Not even in the slightest instant had Draco ever heard tell of a younger sister named Victoria.

Victoria on the other hand seemed to be quite familiar with Draco, apparently having learned every little detail from Tia. She had always tried to imagine Draco Malfoy from what her older sister had described him as, but never had she expected what she found before her. Draco was tall and definitely handsome, but not the way Tia had portrayed him. Victoria found him to be a…well…an asshole to say the least. He was always contradicting her and making things more difficult than need be. She, in truth, did not like Draco Malfoy very much.

"How do you think Tia managed to keep me a secret? I mean I'm her only sister."

"Well Tia is very good at keeping secrets from me as well as from numerous others. I wouldn't put it past her to keep you from me."

Victoria stood up and walked over to the kitchen doors. She wanted to get up and move. Being stationary for so long was tiring. "You say everything as if it's your responsibility to know everything about Tia. She is allowed to have some secrets."

Draco got up and followed the young woman into the kitchen, stopping at the doorframe and leaning ruggedly against it, watching Victoria progress about the kitchen, looking for something to eat. "Just a moment ago you were infuriated at the fact she had kept you a secret, and now you're okay with it?"

"I'm not okay with it, but I know Tia better than most and it is not only her right, but her responsibility to keep secrets. Without her secrets kept safe she could ruin a great many lives with just a few foolishly chosen words." As she moved around, Draco found himself not only watching her trail, but also her body motions as well. She was so graceful and delicate, unlike Tia who was graceful and determined most times. Victoria had an air about her that held some fragility, something that had yet to be broken.

"You are certainly some secret then," he remarked just as she bent over inside the refrigerator to grab an apple out of the crisper. His snide response caught her off guard and behind the door of the refrigerator she gasped silently. He was hitting on her. After everything that Tia had described about him being loyal and caring, here he was, as plain as day, hitting on Victoria.

Without so much as a ruffled or misplaced hair at the comment, Victoria got up and walked over to Draco. At about a foot's distance between the two she said, "The best kept secrets are always the ones that can do the greatest harm to others. I guess in this case, my being a secret could do harm to you."

Draco's eyes fluttered in her direction. He was being provoked and he didn't like it. Keeping his cool had been tough to do since meeting Tia, but now, having met Victoria, it made it all the harder. She was provocative, mysterious and beautiful. The beauty made her dangerous to him and it was almost too much to bear. He was in love with Tia, yet here he was, attracted to a young woman claiming to be Tia's sister. He would just have to keep a firm grip on his whims and wanton urges for now, because hurting Tia was just out of the question. And betraying her with her own sister would be the worst thing Draco could do at the moment.

It was obvious that both Draco and Tia knew about each other's missions and bringing that into perspective made it harder to handle. How was he supposed to love her knowing that Voldemort wanted her dead? Or wanted her information at least, but either way Draco didn't like the thought of it.

"What are you thinking?"

Victoria's voice came into his thoughts and jerked him back to reality. "Nothing that you need be concerned about," he retorted, shoving past her towards the stairs to the dorms.

"I never said I was concerned, you dummy, I just asked a simple question. Geez, sometimes I think boys are just the most stupid people on this earth, no matter what century." She threw her hands in the air as a sign that she was giving up. But her actions didn't matter to Draco. It was what she had said that made him catch interest once more.

"What do you mean, 'no matter what century'?" he asked, stopping his ascent up the stairs.

"As in men and boys, no matter what century they are from, are all clueless floozies. They have no knowledge whatsoever of the opposite sex, and if they do, then they abuse that knowledge to their own advantage and leave broken and hurt women in their tremulous wake. Its one big tangled web of stupid and uncanny morons." Her rant made Draco stare in wonder. Never had he met someone so amazingly precise and so against the species of men. "What?" she asked suddenly, kind of unsettled by the look Draco was giving her.

"You really don't like guys do you?" he asked, almost grinning at the thought.

"Not particularly, no, unlike Tia who has a certain fond and dangerous memory bank full of men who have fawned over her." Victoria sat down on the couch, legs tucked up underneath her, looking over the back of it, still looking at Draco. "Do you like women? Hold on, let me rephrase that one, do you understand women?"

Draco crossed his arms lazily and smiled smugly, "What gives you the impression I don't understand women?"

"Its something in the back of your head, telling me that you are very confused by even the thought of me being here. I suppose that has something to do with it. Or you could be very experienced with women, and are just confused when it comes to Tia."

"Tia is a confusing person by nature, and her secrets she keeps from me are to protect me—"

"Or to destroy you!"

"—and I respect that fact, no matter what you try and put in my head to convince me otherwise." It was a very compelling speech Draco thought, and for the entirety, it was the truth.

Victoria just looked at him before raising her hands and clapping. It was a rather random act, and it only made Draco frown more. "Bravo!" she said to him, placing her hands on her hips, "I really must say I'm impressed. Not a man in Tia's past has ever felt this way. It makes absolutely no sense that you should now, but I can give you a gold star for being the first man to ever truly understand my sister's heart."

Without another seconds notice, the door swung open lazily and in walked the tired and worn out Tia. Her hands were threaded in her long hair and her head was down. She obviously wasn't thinking that she would find more than one person in her Common Room. But that's exactly what she got when she finally looked up.

Victoria got up and smiled at her sister, a loving and warm smile. Draco just stood there and then shrugged, not really needing to explain himself further. For he, in truth, had not idea why Victoria was there, and so he needn't say anything.

"Tory? Tory, what are you doing here?"


End file.
